Category: Odds and Ends

Thanks, Cathy, for giving me a heads-up on this.

HandbagPlanet.com is giving away 24 handbags in 24 hours on Oct. 15, 2008 as part of their website launch. I was able to check out their 24 handbags and I must say some of them looked fabulous!

This is what their website says:

Handbag Planet is almost here. To celebrate the October 15, 2008 launch, we are giving away a free handbag every hour for 24 hours on the day of the launch. Our high fashion, trendy handbags are inspired by popular designer brands and priced between $30 and $80.

After signing-up in one easy step below, you can select the handbag you would like to win. There’s absolutely no catch – this means no shipping/handling fees or credit card required. Yes, it’s really that simple!

Caveat: I do not guarantee anything out of anyone entering this contest but you may want to check out their Privacy Policy and their Official Rules as well before you decide to join.

Tomorrow, September 14, is officially the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as the August Moon or Ghost Month). This period changes from year to year and does not fall into the August western calendar.

These past weeks, mooncakes (locally referred to as hopia) had been selling all over Chinese stores again. While the daily fare hopia is available year round, these special mooncakes come in all kinds of variety (with nuts, one egg, 2 eggs, watermelon seeds, fruits and newer variants).

The origin of the mooncake is quite interesting. In Wikipedia, its history is given as follows:

Mooncakes were used as a medium by the Ming revolutionaries in their espionage effort to secretly distribute letters in order to overthrow the Mongolian rulers of China in the Yuan dynasty. The idea is said to be conceived by Zhu Yuanzhang and his advisor Liu Bowen, who circulated a rumor that a deadly plague was spreading and the only way to prevent it was to eat the special mooncakes. This prompted the quick distribution of the mooncakes, which were used to hide a secret message coordinating the Han Chinese revolt on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.

Another method of hiding the message was printed in the surface of mooncakes as a simple puzzle or mosaic. In order to read the encrypted message, each of the 4 mooncakes packaged together must be cut into 4 parts each. The 16 pieces of mooncake, must then be pieced together in such a fashion that the secret messages can be read. The pieces of mooncake are then eaten to destroy the message.

Year after year during this time, we buy boxes and boxes of mooncakes and give them out to the kids’ teachers, family members and friends. Even my officemates get to taste these. It is a tradition we happily celebrate. It has become so popular that once, when I gave a couple of boxes of buco pie to a Jesuit priest in one of the kids’ schools, he happily exclaimed that he finally had something DIFFERENT from the mounds of mooncakes he received.

The kids really look forward to these mooncake dice games. Six (6) dice are thrown into a deep bowl and depending on the number combination, you win mooncakes (hopia) starting from the small ones (about 1 inch in diameter) to the humongous grand prize of a hopia which is about 8 inches in diameter.

Not all Chinese observe this game as this is a tradition common to Xiamen in Southern Fujian Province. In fact, C1’s friends from Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) do not know about this! Most Pinoys of Chinese heritage come from Xiamen though, the reason for its popularity over here.

Since the kids’ schools used to hold these games in their classrooms, we thought of doing the same at home. Every year, we would invite different Pinoy friends over to introduce them to the tradition and we would have a whole night of clean fun, laughter and what have you.

For the first 3 years, we would just buy the mooncakes (actually large hopias) from the Chinese store. Later, we decided to change and spice up the game a bit by giving away practical items instead. One year, it was school supplies. Another year, kitchen items. Another year, home items. Once, we had everyone bring white elephant items as prizes.

Circumstances this year may not allow us to host this game. Schedules and concerns about my father-in-law’s health condition may make this a more somber time. But there will be other occasions to do so. And I hope that the kids, when they grow up, will remember this annual tradition and make it a special time in their own families.

This week, I matured one degree as a parent again.

Summertime is when the children go to the province to be with my in-laws. This year at least, it was just our 2 boys. The older one, M1 (16), spent most of his days helping out with the family business. I guess in Chinese households this is the norm and M1, being the oldest boy of the oldest son, fits into this mold.

M2 (14), on the other hand, is still a playful boy. He worked last summer but this summer refused to do so as he said he wanted time with his cousins. Oh well….

But I am digressing from my point.

This Tuesday, M1 flew back to Manila on his own. And last Thursday, M2 also did the same.

Being the mother that I am, I naturally asked hubby to let them travel together. It would be one less trip to the airport and they could be together for the flight. Well hubby insisted that it was time to teach them to fly on their own. So that ended all discussions.

On the days of their flights, I admit feeling anxious. Anything could go wrong. They could lose their boarding pass. Or lose something like money or their cellphone. Or bad weather could divert the plane (this already happened to me and the 2 girls and it was NO pleasant experience).

But everything turned out smoothly. In fact, M2 rang me up from the provincial airport to gush about the newly renovated airport. Looked like I was worrying more than they were!!!

So in short, both boys came home safely and they are back with me now, squeezing the last precious summer hours left with friends and with their computer games.

As I reflect on this episode, I do so with mixed emotions.

I am happy because my sons have grown wings and are learning to fly on their own. But in some strange way, I also feel a tinge of sadness…..because they no longer need me as much as they used to.

A lesson in letting go. A lesson in trusting. A lesson on making my own life the way I would really want to because in the end, as our children leave the nest, we are really left with our selves.

What would your life be like without your children around?

If you are in this stage of life, think about it. Pursue your own dreams and aspirations with a passion. Do things you have always wanted but shelved as a result of time for your children. And start making a life worth living for yourself.

May your life be always beautiful, good and worthwhile — not just for YOU but for others as well.